Photo: x-tomi
If any of you is fascinated with pickup trucks, you are not alone. Here at autoevolution we love these blue collar creatures, albeit only the special ones. Before you ask us to define "special", here's an example for you, namely a rendering of the new Volkswagen Passat in pickup truck form.
Probably thanks to its unusual appearance and maybe throwing in some few-hundred-horsepower TSI and 4Motion all-wheel drive petrol-wet dreams, this rendering, which comes from digital artist X-Tomi, appeals to us.
Nonetheless, passion and purchase are totally different matters and we have to admit we can't see ourselves exiting a dealership in a Passat Pickup. That's because the recipe wouldn't work.
In fact, Volkswagen has been off the US midsize pickup market ever since the 80s and the company said it could return via the Amarok, should the Chicken Tax be abolished.
Even without the Chicken Tax, a Passat-sized pickup wouldn't make too much sense. First of all, given the base car, the payload and cargo capacity wouldn't be exactly satisfying.
Then there's the problem of fitting such a proposal inside VW's line-up. We've already established they have the Amarok, while Vee Dub also build the Golf-sized Saveiro pickup in Brazil. Slotting the bed-gifted Passat in between these two would simply bee too much.
And speaking of niche models, you'll notice the VW Group toning down the approach that has seen the company's brands release more and more models of this kind in the past years. You see, VW aimed to become the world's No. One carmaker (by sales revenue) but introducing so many models affects profitability, so the strategy is being softened.
Nonetheless, passion and purchase are totally different matters and we have to admit we can't see ourselves exiting a dealership in a Passat Pickup. That's because the recipe wouldn't work.
Why a Passat pickup would be a bad idea
First of all, the US market would be totally out of question, since that dreaded Chicken Tax would bring massive problems. For those who weren't online during the Lyndon Johnson Administration, this 50-year old tax was introduced as a 25 percent premium on foreign pickups after Europe imposed extra taxation on American chicken. The US was accused of throwing its artificially-fed poultry on the European market at a price that was considered to be just-as-artificially reduced. The original American tax also included items such as brandy and potato starch, but the light pickups are the only ones remaining on the list.In fact, Volkswagen has been off the US midsize pickup market ever since the 80s and the company said it could return via the Amarok, should the Chicken Tax be abolished.
Even without the Chicken Tax, a Passat-sized pickup wouldn't make too much sense. First of all, given the base car, the payload and cargo capacity wouldn't be exactly satisfying.
Then there's the problem of fitting such a proposal inside VW's line-up. We've already established they have the Amarok, while Vee Dub also build the Golf-sized Saveiro pickup in Brazil. Slotting the bed-gifted Passat in between these two would simply bee too much.
And speaking of niche models, you'll notice the VW Group toning down the approach that has seen the company's brands release more and more models of this kind in the past years. You see, VW aimed to become the world's No. One carmaker (by sales revenue) but introducing so many models affects profitability, so the strategy is being softened.
Google News